The subject matter herein relates generally to a cable backplane system for interconnecting electrical components in a communication system.
Communication systems, such as network systems, servers, data centers, and the like, use large printed circuit boards, known as backplanes, to interconnect midplanes, daughtercards, line cards and/or switch cards. The communication systems generally use high speed differential pair connectors mounted to the backplane and high speed differential pair connectors mounted to the line cards and switch cards to transmit signals therebetween. The backplane interconnects the various connectors using traces within the circuit board.
The backplanes are typically mounted vertically at a rear of the chassis with the backplane connectors positioned at the front of the backplane. The removable cards are typically loaded into the chassis in a mating direction through the front with the removable cards mated with corresponding backplane. The backplane is oriented perpendicular to the mating direction and covers the rear of the chassis. The backplane blocks airflow through the chassis by restricting front-to-back airflow. Furthermore, the backplane connectors are only accessible from the front. To replace one of the backplane connectors, a significant part of the system must be disassembled and the backplane removed from the chassis. Moreover, interconnection of components on different chassis requires a separate connection system which adds complexity and cost to the system.
A need remains for a backplane system that allows assembly and disassembly of components without interrupting other parts of the system.